“It kind of would, yeah,” said Griffin about a December date with Silva being too soon. “I’d love to fight him if I didn’t have a giant hole in my face right now. We were in the hotel lobby and I was doing an interview with someone and they’re like ‘Wanderlei just said he wants to fight you’ and I was like ‘Right now, really, right now? He wants to fight me? I know he’s a Chute Boxe guy, but right now?’ And they were like no, no, no … in December.”

“We’ll see medically,” Griffin stated about the December card. “[It’ll] take a couple of weeks to figure it out.”

The cut that Griffin sustained was pretty severe and I’m going to assume that the CSAC will medically suspend him for at least a month without contact. However UFC 79 isn’t until December 29th, which would still give Griffin a good two months to be able to train for the fight. I guess we’ll see what happens…

Apparently Henderson only has one fight left on his current contract with the UFC. He has also stated that he would be ready to fight by November but that he would like to stay at light heavyweight, despite the UFC’s efforts to attempt to get Henderson to move down to his natural weight of 185.

The UFC 76 “Knockout” event on September 22nd in Anaheim, California had an official attendance of 13,770 - with 1,953 of those seats as comps (tickets given away for free to media, friends, celebrities, etc.) for a gate of $1,984,880.

The Fight Network is reporting that the Nevada State Athletic Commission voted today to withhold Renato Sobral’s $25,000 win bonus following his actions at UFC 74: Respect.

Controversy ensued when Sobral locked on a fight-ending anaconda choke and refused to let go after his opponent David Heath tapped ultimately choking him unconscious. During his post-fight interview Babalu stated that he felt he needed to teach Heath some respect.

“Always, like in every fight I didn’t understand what he is talking about because after the fight I’m tired and didn’t realize what he was talking about,” explained Sobral. “I didn’t say at any time that I hold the choke. I did say I did what I did to teach some respect because the show was called ‘Respect.’ I just talked about my own words, not about Joe Rogan’s questions. I never understood what he said after the fight because my English is not that good.”

Erik Apple, Babalu’s former training partner, commented on the situation saying “The NSAC kept the entire win purse and issued no suspension. That’s a hefty fine for a family that just moved to the USA and is trying to set up a stable life here.”

- Stay with us throughout the day and night for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 11 which will feature our famed Tap Selections, a live blog and much more.

- MMA Junkie is reporting via Tagg Radio that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir will be taking on former PRIDE Heavyweight Title holder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in his next fight. No official date for the fight was said.

“No official announcement,” he wrote to us. “We are hoping for Kongo first. He called out Mir. I think he deserves it.“

- Sam Caplan went public with some EliteXC news yesterday. Apparently Gary Shaw and company have no interest in signing Renato “Babalu” Sobral at this time and David Loiseau may be making a return early next year:

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned through EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw that the fight promotion has no immediate interest in former UFC fighter Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Shaw said in no way does he condone what Sobral did at UFC 74 and labeled the act as “egregious.” However, he would not rule out the possibility of having interest in Sobral’s services in the future.

I’ve also had several people ask me in recent weeks about the status of David Loiseau. Loiseau, if you recall, fought on EliteXC’s debut card in February and has not been used by the promotion since. There was some speculation that he had been released but Shaw confirmed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com that the promotion does in fact have plans for Loiseau and there’s a chance he could be appearing in December in England on a Cage Rage card.

Cerrone was found to have tested positive for the drug after test results came in from the WEC’s post-fight medical examinations. Cerrone was victorious in his WEC debut at the event, submitting Kenneth Alexander. UFC veteran Thiago Alves also tested positive for the drug at UFC 66 but his win over Tony DeSouza was not overturned since it was found that the drug did not help him in winning the fight. The chances are that the NSAC will see the same for Cerrone.

Since UFC 74, I have wanted to speak publicly about my fight with David Heath. I waited to do so, however, out of respect for the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Zuffa, Inc. and Dana White. After all, it is their efforts that have legitimized Mixed Martial Arts in the sports world and I realize that my conduct has unintentionally hindered those efforts. For that, among other things, I am deeply sorry.

I have been fighting professionally since 1998. Prior to my fight with David Heath, my professional record was twenty-seven wins with seven losses. Fourteen of my victories came by way of submission. Not once was I ever accused of holding a choke or submission too long. If anything, there has always been and continues to be a great camaraderie between my opponents and I after the fight.

Being a professional mixed martial artist is more than a career to me. It is my livelihood and my way of life. Consequently, I am deeply sorry for any embarrassment that has been brought upon the sport, other mixed martial artists (especially David Heath), my Academy and most importantly, my family.

- Kultar Gill has been forced to pull out of his scheduled bout against Caol Uno in the K-1 Hero’s Middleweight Tournament after suffering a shoulder and neck injury according to The Fight Network. Gill stated that he is unable to live his arm over his shoulder at the moment:

“I finally took off two months from work to train for the first time in my life. I was on a roll and was training super-hard for Caol Uno,” says Gill. “My jiu-jitsu had improved tenfold. Training with Pele has been awesome. I finally have a guy that can strike with me who I don’t knock out. We’ve had some wars. I was looking and feeling so good but now I can’t lift my arm over my shoulder. I can’t even do one push-up. But you know, shit happens.”

I didn’t hear the show but I’ve read in several places that Tagg Radio reported today that the show heard from a reliable source in Fedor Emelianenko’s camp that he’s been offered a four fight deal worth $2 million per bout that would also allow him to fight in Russia. The reports I am reading suggests that Fedor is close to accepting.

If that story is in fact being reported I can tell you that a reliable source I spoke to from the UFC left me with a completely different impression of Thursday’s meeting. I did not ask the source specifically about Tagg Radio’s report and simply asked about how the meeting on Thursday went. The answer was not good and no indication was given that a deal was even close to being agreed to.

Ty Montgomery has had his license revoked in the state and has also been fined $2,500. His license revocation is the result of three separate incidents that the CSAC has had to discipline him for - a prior positive test for marijuana in September 2006 and for an altercation with a promotion’s matchmaker in March 2007. Montgomery will be eligible to apply for reinstatement in one year in front of the CSAC.

Mongtomery’s opponent at a recent Galaxy Productions event, Virgil Zwicker has been suspended for three months and fined $500 after testing positive for marijuana as well.

I would like to know when we are going to find out about the state of the UFC Lightweight Champion Title. If Sherk just so happens to keep his title, Roger Huerta shoule get the next title shot for the lightweight belt. If Sherk’s appeal is denied and the title is revoked, Huerta and Stevenson should battle it out for the belt. Just the opinion of an everyday fight fan.

Well Kevin, it seems that we are going to know a lot more after Sherk’s meeting with the CSAC scheduled on October 31st. That will be when the commission decides whether or not they are going to reverse Sherk’s positive test for steroids. If they do, expect Sherk to keep his title and fight before the year is over. If they decide to stay with their claim that Sherk tested positive, UFC President Dana White has already said that Sherk will be stripped of the title.

I haven’t heard anything about Huerta getting a possible title shot. I think that he needs to go up against some of the better competition in the division before he will be ready to go up against a fighter the caliber of Sherk or Stevenson. I’ve heard that the winner of the Din Thomas-Kenny Florian fight in September may go up against B.J. Penn in November for the title now that Stevenson has a broken nose and is medically suspended for two months.

Basically nothing is set in stone right now and we aren’t going to learn about the state of the UFC Lightweight Title until after Sherk’s date with the CSAC on Halloween.

Werdum stated, “I am very happy with my new training partners and I hope I can get the Chute Boxe spirit and improve my stand up skills. When I first step here, I could see that my training speed wasn’t right. The training here is so much harder, but I am adapting myself and all the coaches and athletes are being like brothers.”

- Former UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante has announced that he is reforming the Brazilian Top Team after the depature of the Nogueira brothers and Mario Sperry.

- MMA Weekly is also reporting via sources at BodogFight that the promotion plans to announce a new TV deal when their current contract with ION runs out in February of next year:

- The California State Athletic Commission has announced that it will hear the appeal of UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk’s positive test for steroids on October 31st in Los Angeles.

- Staying on the subject of athletic commissions, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has filed a formal complaint against Renato Sobral for his actions at UFC 74. Sobral will be required to meet with the NSAC at a later date to find out whether he may possibly be suspended or fined. $25,000 of his purse is still being withheld.

Today UFC president Dana White announced that Renato “Babalu” Sobral has been released from his UFC contract due to his behavior during his fight with David Heath.

During his fight at UFC 74: Respect, Sobral choked out David Heath and when referee Steve Mazzagatti attempted to stop the fight Sobral refused to left go of the choke saying afterwards, “I just thought that I needed to teach him respect after he showed me so much disrespect.” The Nevada State Athletic Commission withheld half of Sobral’s pay pending a review of his actions during the fight with Heath.

After the fight Dana White went on the record saying…

“I am not happy about it. If you have an arm or leg of somebody in a submission where somebody seriously injures somebody, you’ll never be back in UFC again.”

Babalu and his management will be speaking in front of the NSAC Friday.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has announced that all ten fighters tested for performance enhancing drugs after UFC 74 passed with flying colors. The results of the tests for drugs of abuse will be released in the coming weeks.